


Monster's Lair

by ReyOfStarlight



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-19 16:38:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5974297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyOfStarlight/pseuds/ReyOfStarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after Kylo Ren's interrogation of Rey, she awakes to find herself alone and still strapped to the table. A surprise visitor and some unexpected compassion show her some very different understandings of good and evil.</p><p>Rated E for future chapters. Slow burn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Writer's note: I don't own any of the characters. They all belong to Lucasfilm and Disney; I just like to play with them.

Rey blinked, trying to clear the fog from her vision. She tipped her head back slightly, and to her chagrin, felt a cold sheet of durasteel against the back of her scalp. 'Still stuck in his interrogation chamber,' she thought to herself bitterly. She peered out from behind her heavily lidded eyes, and the chamber came in to focus. The harsh white lights still shone in her face, with not a Stormtrooper or Knight of Ren in sight. She twisted against her restraints halfheartedly, not able to muster much energy after being restrained on the metal table for hours. 'Or was it days?' she wondered. Ren had stormed out after she had rebuffed his attempt to rifle through her mind, and no one had been back since. She hadn't had water or anything to eat since arriving on Takodana, and she knew she was feeling the effects of dehydration. It was impossible to remember how many times she'd drifted in and out of consciousness, or even how long she had been unconscious, and the constant glare from the lights prevented her from gauging any passage of time.

She closed her eyes, her body slackening, and fought back tears of frustration. It wouldn't do her any good to cry now, and she was too proud to risk Ren or a Stormtrooper walking in and catching her in a moment of weakness. A drastic change in the light level interrupted her momentary calm, and she tensed, fully alert. The room had become pitch black, and she briefly considered whether this was simply the version of nightfall that the First Order had chosen for their interrogation rooms. The whooshing of the door sliding open quashed her theory, as the light from the corridor flooded in, blinding her. She squinted towards the doorway, and could just make out a tall backlit silhouette standing in it, but with its front in complete darkness, she couldn't tell whether it was the masked knight, a solider, or someone else entirely.

The door hissed shut with a resounding clang, and the room was once again plunged into darkness. Rey felt the fear rise in her chest, clamping around her heart and making her pulse race. She trembled involuntarily, straining to make out who the figure was. The only sounds in the room were nearly silent footsteps coming closer to her. The footsteps ceased, and, panicking, she looked around wildly, trying to determine where the mysterious person had come to a halt. Her stomach tied in knots as her mind tried to make sense of her new predicament and possible scenarios flashed through her head; none involved a rescue. The racing thoughts ceased abruptly, however, as she felt the restraints around her feet release. Shocked, it took her half a second before she thought to kick out into the darkness, but that half a second was all the shadowy figure had needed to release her wrists and wrap a strong arm around her torso.

She felt herself draped over a shoulder, an arm tightly circled around her legs to prevent any well placed kicks. "Put – me - down!" she shouted, swinging her fists and hitting her captor in the back, to little effect. Just as suddenly as she had been scooped up, she was slid back down onto what felt to be a lightly padded surface of some sort. A hand pushed against her shoulder, pinning her on a wall in a sitting position. It was unnecessary; she wasn't struggling anymore, given that could very well be all the prompting it took for this unknown figure to kill her. As she slumped back against the wall, she felt a bag being pressed against her stomach, and she reflexively grabbed it with her free hand. A moment later, the pressure on her shoulder was gone, the figure was standing in the now open doorway, silhouetted by the bright lights of the hallway, and the door clanged shut once more. As Rey tore open the bag, the lights came back on, a much softer glow this time, and she looked down to discover that she was holding a large container of water, along with what appeared to be standard rations. Glancing around, she discovered she was still in the interrogation room, sitting on a padded bench the size of a small bed, with no indication that anyone else had recently been in the room besides her.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey wolfed down all of the rations, her gnawing hunger telling her that she'd been here – wherever here was – for much longer than a day. Living for so many years on Jakku had taught her to ration her water, and she took a few slow sips, relishing the feeling of it on her parched throat. She sat on the edge of the bench for a few minutes, feeling slightly nauseous after eating so quickly. 'Or from them poisoning you,' she thought to herself. She immediately tried to shake off the preposterous idea, but she had begun to feel a little paranoid, and this sudden change of events wasn't doing much to allay her concerns. After a few minutes had gone by and she was still in full control of her faculties, she reassured herself that the food hadn't been some malicious trap, and began to relax slightly.

A quick glance around her revealed a small, austere room with the slab she'd been cuffed to in the center, the control panel and stool that Ren had sat on near the door, and the bench she was now resting on tucked along the back wall. It was directly behind the interrogation apparatus, 'Which explains how I missed it," she thought. She peered at the control panel from across the room, and to her surprise, noticed that it didn't appear to be secured. It likely had security clearances to restrict access, she surmised, but it also probably had some sort of emergency button she could make use of in planning her escape.

She got up to walk towards the panel, but stumbled after only a few steps, wincing and choking back a yelp as her knees, then palms, painfully hit the floor. Tears began to prickle at the corners of her eyes as she knelt, immobilized, listening for the sound of footsteps or a command panel being activated by some unknown guard outside. No one appeared to be nearby, but she was sure the noise she had made when she tripped must have been audible in the corridor, and she was particularly keen on avoiding an unexpected confrontation with a Stormtrooper. Bracing herself, she prepared to push herself up, but felt her arms tremble as she shifted forward to put weight on them; frustrated, she tried again, with the same result. She lowered herself into a sitting position, leaning back against the long bench.

What had caused her to become so weak? She puzzled over it for a few moments before it dawned on her; she'd had nothing to eat or drink in Force only knows how long. She was definitely dehydrated, and potentially malnourished at this point; her body was probably protesting the lack of nourishment, and at the worst possible moment to boot.

Rey tipped her head back and squeezed her eyes shut before letting out a choked moan. She had already been fighting to keep back tears after her painful collision with the floor; add being unable to walk to the list, and she was sure she would lose this battle. Reaching back to use the bench as support, she painstakingly pushed herself up enough to climb onto it. She hadn't realized it earlier, but a fairly large blanket sat folded at the end. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would be nice to tuck herself in with. She stretched out, wrapping herself with the blanket. She lay awake for what seemed like hours, struggling to find a solution to her predicament. No matter how many ideas she had, none seemed remotely feasible, and overwhelmed with frustration, she curled up underneath the blanket as tears began to stream down her face. A few sobs escaped as she continued to cry, and only when she had no tears left to shed did the young woman drift off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

On the opposite side of the base, Kylo Ren lay panting on the floor of the officers' gym, sweat beading on his brow and trickling down his spine. He was dressed in a sleeveless black top and lightweight black pants, and, at the moment, was attempting to wrest control back from Captain Phasma, who had him pinned down underneath her. She had one knee buried in his inner thigh, after flattening his outer leg against the mat and forcing his knee up towards his armpit in a particularly uncomfortable manner. She was holding his left leg down with her right hip, and had trapped both of his arms with an unpleasant contortion of his wrists. He looked up at her, frustration mixing with discomfort, only to find her grinning back down at him while a few stray strands of her blond hair hung down in front of her blue eyes, which seemed to be laughing at him. He was not in the mood to be mocked right now, and forcefully thrust upward with his hips in a last ditch attempt to free himself. He felt his pelvis collide with her right hip, momentarily catching her off guard before she leveraged her grip on his wrists to quickly roll him over so he lay face down on the mat. She knelt over him, one knee on either side, and pulled his left arm straight up and back, twisting his wrist and forcing his shoulder slightly into the ground.

"OUCH, Phas!" he yelped from beneath his unruly mop of dark hair. "You're hurting me!"

He heard her reply smoothly from above him, as if their sparring session had required no exertion on her part whatsoever; "Good, perhaps now you'll tell me what your problem is."

"Nothing's a problem Phas, other than what you're doing to my elbow right now," he snapped back.

'Lies,' she thought, and twisted his wrist a little bit more, driving his shoulder farther forward. "Ky, come on, I can tell something's bugging you. I know I'm better at K'Thri, but it's never this easy to beat you unless you're really distracted by something." She would know, of course. They practiced together a few times a week, as much to blow off steam as to stay sharp. Their practice sessions were often followed by drinks, and, though the proud knight was loathe to admit it, Phas drinking him under the table and then tucking him into bed.

He sighed audibly, somewhat for dramatic effect. "Fine. I'll tell you, but you have to let me go first."

She paused, pretending to consider his offer. "I suppose I could let you up and trust that all of your codes of honor keep you from reneging on that promise." Phasma loved to rag him about the codes of conduct he and Snoke supposedly held so dear, especially because she knew it pushed his buttons.

Ren started to struggle against her "Phas! Let- go- of- ME! Or so help me gods, I'll-"

"Careful Ky, you wouldn't want to dislocate anything, would you?" she crooned in his ear.

"I swear, if you dislocate my shoulder, Phasma, I will have you demoted to waste management," came the snarled reply.

"Relax; I have medical training, remember? I can fix damaged shoulders anytime." She teased, before releasing his arm and gently helping him up. "Up we go now. Do you want to go to your quarters or mine?"

He turned to face her after she'd helped him to his feet. She'd barely broken a sweat, compared to his soaked shirt and hair. "My quarters, please." Phasma knew it was a question, and chuckled before giving him a nod. "But I have to shower first. Unlike some perfect human specimen, I do actually perspire."

Her full, warm laugh echoed around the gym before she spoke. "Of course Ky, not all of us can be superhuman, after all. Mind if I just come with you? I can start a drink while you clean up."

"You mean so you can drink all my fancy liquor?" he grinned back at her. "Of course, anything to get you more intoxicated than me for once." She gave him a playful swat before they threw on their jackets, gathered up their extra workout gear, and headed towards Ren's quarters.


	4. Chapter 4

Ren exhaled deeply as the hot water cascaded over him. He was sore from sparring with Phasma. 'Getting your butt kicked, not sparring,' he reminded himself, feeling even more annoyed when he remembered his poor performance. He shifted under the shower head and let the water stream through his hair and down his well-muscled back before reaching up to run his hands through his hair. He shouldn't have agreed to have drinks with Phasma tonight. As the soap suds began pooling around his feet as he rinsed himself off, he sighed again. It was completely inappropriate for him to be discussing his current predicament with anyone, particularly a subordinate. He rolled his eyes at his own elitism; Phasma might technically rank below him, but she was by far his closest friend in the First Order and he trusted her completely. He needed to talk though, and she knew that; he was sure that's why she had egged him on at the end of their practice – to get it out of him.

Stepping out of the glass encased stall, he wrapped a fluffy onyx towel around his waist and peered into the mirror at his reflection, nervously running a hand through his hair again. "Phas?" he called out. "I'm done showering; I just have to get dressed. Just a heads up."

The Amazonian woman chuckled as he stepped out of his bathroom looking flustered. "Phas!" he yelped. She was perched on the side of his plush black armchair, sipping what he could only assume was one of his finest liquors from a short tumbler. Flustered by her unyielding gaze and the mirth in her eyes, he started to ramble. "I- You knew I wouldn't be wearing any clothes, and I warned you, but you're just sitting there, and you know how it bothers me when you just sit there, but – HEY! Turn around and stop staring!"

"Relax, Ky," she replied amicably. "I spend nearly all of my time around Stormtroopers, remember? They're a bunch of young, athletic men. What do you think their barracks and gym look like? I've seen all this," she gestures at his exposed torso, smirking. "and far more. Why don't you worry less about the damage you're doing to my retinas and more about getting dressed so I don't finish all of your Savareen brandy without you."

Still grumbling, he stalked over to his dresser, pulling out a silky pair of black pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. "What're you doing in my bedroom anyways? It's not like I don't have a living room for you to sit in." He pulled the t-shirt on before rifling in a drawer for a pair of boxer briefs, then retreating behind his bed to put them on. "Phas, turn around! I need to get dressed."

She groaned and rolled her eyes before obligingly shifting to turn her back on him. "You don't really seem like you'd benefit from heavy drinking tonight, and I thought you might be more comfortable sitting here and chatting," she answered, speaking towards the short hallway that led to the rest of his living quarters. Ren said nothing, still trying to pull on his boxers under the towel while he tucked himself behind his bed. "Ky…?" she said after a moment "What's been bothering you?"

After a few grunts and the sound of someone tripping, Phasma turned slightly, peeking over her shoulder. "Hey! I didn't say I was done!" came the response from Ren, who was standing next to his dresser, fully clothed.

"If you say so…" Phasma had to stifle a smirk. "Why don't you give me your towel? I'll go hang it up and grab a glass for you and we can sit down, alright?"

He grudgingly handed over the damp ball before flopping down on his California king bed; it was his guilty pleasure. Ren loved to sleep stretched out, and few other beds accommodated his six foot three inch frame comfortably. He pushed a few pillows up against the headboard and sat back against them, sighing appreciatively as Phasma came back up the half set of stairs with a second glass. "Want to come sit with me?" he asked, offering an apologetic smile and patting the bed near him.

She shook her head slightly and smiled at him. She cared deeply for the young man and knew that he had far more on his plate than she ever would; she wondered, not infrequently, whether this was entirely voluntary on his part. She picked up the glittering bottle and poured him a small serving before sitting down on the bed across from him and offering him the glass. "So, Knight of Ren," she started, with a gently teasing tone "What is it that's been bothering you? Are you having girl problems?"

At the mention of a girl, Ren grew silent and stony faced. "Who told you?" he snapped, enraged that news of the incident had already made its way around the crew and resolving to track down any responsible parties.

"Ky? No one told me anything, I was just kidding…" came the gentle reply, as the Captain's soft hand reached out to rub his upper arm reassuringly. "It was just a joke, sweetie. What happened?"

He swirled the caramel liquid around his glass before sighing and placing it on a nightstand. He considered swearing her to secrecy, but decided it would come off as insulting. Phasma was his closest friend on the base, perhaps in the entire First Order, and he trusted her completely. "Remember the droid with the map to Luke Skywalker?" she nodded, continuing to rub small circles on his bicep with the pad of her thumb. "I didn't get the droid," he continued, head slumping dejectedly. "We found a girl, who had seen the map, so I took her instead. She was right there in front of me, and it was easier to just grab her and then take the map from her mind myself." He paused, drawing a steadying breath and looking up at Phasma, who nodded encouragingly. "I could sense something was…. different about the girl, and as soon as I was in a room alone with her, I could tell how strong in the Force she was. I tried to take the map from her, gently, and Phas, there's no way she had any idea what she was doing, but suddenly, she was in my mind, rifling through my thoughts and feelings." He stopped, ashamed both at his failure then, and the weakness he felt he was betraying now.

"You're worried she's stronger than you?" she asked, receiving a slow nod in return. "And you're embarrassed because she beat you, in a way, and because she saw your vulnerabilities." Though it wasn't a question, Ren nodded anyways. "Is there anything else…?"

Ren nodded once more; it was this last piece that truly haunted him, the other issues were comparatively mild annoyances. "I'm drawn to her, Phas. And before you tease me, no, it's not that I need to meet more women. It's this incredibly strong connection; I think it's through the Force, but I can't really tell." As his dismay grew, he began to ramble again. "I know Snoke knows; that she's Force sensitive, I mean. He doesn't know that we have any- that there's some sort of connection." He stopped suddenly, and looked at her with a seriousness that reached up into his large, brown eyes. "Phas, I'm really scared he's going to kill her."

"Ky…" she trailed off, realization flashing across her face. "You care for her, don't you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Kylo blanched at the imposing woman’s gentle words. “ _No!_ ” he snapped quickly, instantly regretting the way he’d spoken to her; as always, Phasma was being nothing but kind and understanding. “Sorry,” he mumbled quietly, “I don’t _care_ for her, per se, I just…”

The Captain brushed a thick lock of platinum blond hair back behind her ear before reaching out and giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. “You’re not dead enough inside to be in the First Order. None of us really are, not with Snoke in charge anyways.”

“Careful, Phas,” he warned, though his voice lacked any real edge, “that’s awfully close to treason.”

She shrugged playfully, muscular shoulders tensing momentarily. “Who’s going to turn me in? You?”

He sighed and shook his head, damp hair settling to frame his face. “No, and you’re right, of course.”

She chuckled, a rich warm sound filling the chamber and cheering the sulking knight, if only slightly. “Of course I’m right! When have I ever been wrong before?” Phasma teased, eliciting a groan from the young man.

“Oh, rub it in, why don’t you,” he grumbled, secretly relieved that talk of Snoke and the First Order seemed to have distracted her from any discussion of the scavenger girl currently in his possession in the cell block.  

The captain regarded him for a moment, as if considering the offer. To Kylo’s chagrin, however, Phasma was not one to be easily dissuaded. “So, the girl from Jakku… what’s her name, Rey?” She paused, studying him, and if Ren hadn’t known better, he might have suspected that she had some undisclosed Force abilities. “Oh, don’t look so shocked Ky; I know everything that goes on on this base. So what’s the deal with her if you don’t care for her?”

He barely managed to suppress an eye roll; his best friend rarely minced words, and he found himself wishing that this could have been the exception. The raven haired man wasn’t at all clear on why he was reluctant to send Rey to her death; he wouldn’t have thought twice about it with any other prisoner, and he couldn’t even justify it to himself, let alone another senior officer. “I don’t know,” he sighed, closing his eyes briefly as he absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair. “I just feel this hesitation at condemning her to an immediate death. When I tried to interrogate her-” Ren considered whether his confession was unwise before continuing. “-she _resisted me_. And not just that she fought or screamed or cried, she actually pushed back with her mind, so effectively that she managed to slip into mine,” he stared down at his crossed legs, voice barely above a whisper as the humiliation of the moment washed over him once more. “She’s _so strong_ with the Force, Phas. Maybe even stronger than I am, though she clearly has no idea. I’m intrigued by her – no one has rivaled my power in nearly a decade. And of course, it would be a waste to not attempt to use her to our advantage,” he added hurriedly, trying to cover his interest in the girl, _his weakness_ , as merely looking after the First Order’s interests. He didn’t bother to mention that his reticence at immediately relinquishing her to Snoke stemmed, in part, from just how painful and messy her death would be; Phasma was already well aware of the manner in which the Supreme Leader chose to dispose of potentially threats, of that he was sure.

Icy blue eyes traced over his face, their owner perfectly silent for so long that it made Kylo’s skin crawl, and he grabbed his glass off the nightstand as a distraction. When she finally spoke, he nearly let out an audible sigh of relief. “Well Ky,” she started seriously, “It seems to me that you could make the case to Snoke to let her be, at least for a week or two. That’d buy you some time to figure out your next steps. I mean, really. Every time you and Hux see him, he’s muttering about the balance of the Force tipping away from us,” she considered him for a moment, as if waiting for an outburst from her admittedly temperamental companion. “And the Knights of Ren are great and all, but you’ve said it yourself, they don’t have any of the finesse that mastering the Force entails. A talented Force user would be a real plus in that department, wouldn’t it?”

“Very perceptive, Phas. I’m still not _entirely_ convinced you’re not a bit Force sensitive yourself, you know,” she started to smirk, and Ren, feeling that Phasma’s ego was big enough already, hurriedly continued. “That _would_ be a good plan, but there’s one big issue – the girl will _never_ cooperate with me. On any front. Twelve hours with Han Solo and she’s already ready to swear her loyalty to Skywalker.” He began to clench the tumbler tightly at the thought of his father and uncle until the woman across from him pried it from his grasp.   
  
“Careful,” she warned, a smirk spreading across her features once again. “There are only so many times per week that I can cover the damage one of your outbursts does,” she reprimanded, drawing a chuckle from the man despite his sour mood. It was true, Phasma regularly served as an alibi when he inevitably destroyed or injured something.  “Anyways,” her eyes twinkled, “I don’t know how to persuade her to cooperate with you, but I will say one thing, Ky. You _certainly_ have a girl problem.”

Peals of laughter ran through his quarters as Ren playfully smacked the athletic blond, who merely responded with another laugh that lit up her eyes as he continued pretending to berate her.

 

On the other side of the base, in a nearly pitch black cell, a young scavenger tossed and turned on the thin mat that served as a bed, the sound of full, warm laughter ringing in her ears as an odd mix of playfulness and worry washed through her consciousness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've horribly neglected this story and this chapter is shorter than usual, but I haven't forgotten it, I promise!


End file.
